...aaaand Schmidt-Lötzen actually left two Häseler bits in volume 1 (the easiest to check, due to having a register):
22. Juli 1756: Häseler returns from Denmark, where he's our court's envoy. I used to be good friends with him, and I very much enjoy seeing him again. He is a very decent fellow, only he shows off being an envoy a little too much right now.
12. September (same year, the 7 years war has started): I'm returning form Potsdam and dine at Count Podewils', where I meet Häseler, who has to return immediately to his post as envoy in Copenhagen. We get a pretty sad impression of this country from him; he'd love very much to stay here. It's rumored he wants to marry little Marschall, and this seems to be true. (The rest of the entry, btw, is about meeting Präsident Voß and his wife, the former Sophie von Pannewitz, who in Lehndorff's opinion is still into AW, which doesn't surprise AW fan Lehndorff one bit.)
(I checked the year 1756 in Volume 2 for any additional bits, but at least in that particular year there doesn't seem to have been anything cut about August von Häseler.)
Very few envoys seem happy to be envoys!
Stratemann: I protest! I was very glad to be envoy and further the cause of happy Hohenzollern/Braunschweig marriages and report about what a wonderful King and Father FW was!
Manteuffel: Well, things in Denmark got a bit expensive back when I was a young envoy, and I did sweat a lot about having to pawn things until I finally got some of my salary, but being envoy in Berlin was fun, true. Having to put up with being invited to the Tobacco Parliament notwithstanding. I did luck out in getting promoted home to Saxony and to minister rank just in time to see the bonkers Clement affair go down from a safe distance, I'll admit.
Seckendorff: Count yourself lucky. Having to attend the Tobacco College was the least of it. I got a front row seat to the full Hohenzollern family insanity, and okay, I succeeded in what I was supposed to, prevent the English marriages, get Junior married to the niece of the Empress, but when I think of all that bribery money I had to spend and my future held not one but two stints in prison for me me, one for losing battles and one because Junior can hold a grudge, well, I should have remained a general.
Hoym: I loved my assignment in Paris. I loved being promoted to ministerdom back home in Dresden even more, of course, and winning over Manteuffel, and I did not love at all being toppled and locked up at Königstein, but speaking strictly of my days as an envoy: *throws kiss at Versailles*
Poniatowski: Oh wonderful glorious time in St. Peterburg with the woman who was MY DESTINY! Her husband, though....
Sir William Hamilton: Well, King Ferdinand was somewhat...immature... but luckily I had my antiquities and my research into volcanology, and then of course my Emma, who got along with the Queen so splendidly, so I would say that by and large, I enjoyed my time as his Majesty's envoy in Naples, yes.
Hoym:
Edited 2023-02-25 14:22 (UTC)
Re: Fritz is not your dream boss: The Bad Pyrmont edition
Stratemann: I protest! I was very glad to be envoy and further the cause of happy Hohenzollern/Braunschweig marriages and report about what a wonderful King and Father FW was!
Stratemann, you were the very first exception to come to my mind! When I said "very few envoys," rest easy you were one of the chosen few.
(the easiest to check, due to having a register)
Volumes 2 and 3 also have a register, it's at the end of volume 3 (and you have to keep in mind the supplementary volumes were numbered separately, so "I" is what we call volume 2 and "II" is what we call volume 3).
Interestingly, Schmidt's index says "Johann August Haeseler" was born in 1724. That would explain why Fritz referred to him being in his prime, but given Fritz's opposition to very young envoys mentioned by Hartmann, would not explain how he's envoy already in 1751. Oh, interesting, Wikipedia confirms that the son was also envoy to Copenhagen. Okay, maybe it's because Fritz had such a bad experience (in his opinion) with this envoy that he formed the opinion that young envoys are bad.
All right, I retract what I said about Fritz giving a 60-year-old a hard time, but I still remind you that this guy is 31 in 1755, whereas Fritz was 32 during the 1744 trip to Bad Pyrmont.
Okay, so the envoy who can't get leave from Fritz is the first cousin of Lehndorff's wife, not the uncle. Apologies for misreporting at first, but it's not my fault if the father and son had the same job description, Wikipedia didn't give dates for their envoy tenures, and the father was still alive when the son was in Copenhagen! Sheesh.
Anyway, he gets a *lot* of mentions in volume 2. Given that this all had to be copy-pasted from OCRed text and then cleaned up, 1) there are a lot of lingering mistakes, I'm sure, 2) I'm not translating it all right now. I may later if I have time.
1758, Feb 7: Häseler ist bei Schellendorf. Er hat die obere Wohnung genommen, die der schwedische Gesandte, Herr v. Wulfenstjerna, bewohnte. Seine Heirat mit Frau v. Marschall wird aus Familien rücksichten, die gewöhnlich unsern lebhaftesten und billigsten Wünschen Hindernisse bereiten, aufgeschoben werden.
1758, summer: In dieser Zeit wird die Hochzeit der jüngsten Tochter des Grafen Podewils mit Herrn v. Häseler gefeiert. Sie war in erster Ehe mit einem Herrn v. Marschall verheiratet gewesen, der sie ein Jahr nach der Hochzeit ohne weiteres verließ, um nach Rom zu gehen, weil, wie er sagte, sein undankbares Vaterland seinem großen Verdienste keine Gerechtigkeit widerfahren lasse. Er war ein Narr, dem Lamettrie, Voltaire, des Ormes und mehrere andere Franzosen den Kopf verdreht hatten. Graf Podewils ließ die Ehe seiner Tochter alsbald scheiden, und diese wohnte bisher im Hause ihres Vaters im Genusse einer Rente von 100() Talern, die Marschalls Mutter ihr bezahlen mußte. Ihr erster Gatte hatte diese junge Person zu allerlei leichtfertigen Streichen verleitet und wollte durchaus eine Zierpuppe aus ihr machen. Das erste Geschenk, das er ihr machte, war eine Büchse mit roter Schminke, und am zweiten Tage nach der Hochzeit wollte er mit ihr nicht mehr im selben Wagen fahren, indem er erklärte, der gute Ton verlange es, daß die Frau immer von ihrem Manne getrennt sei. Der Vater hatte es bei der großen Jugend der jungen Frau für gut befunden, ihr ihre Gouvernante mitzugeben, damit sie als Freundin im Hause bleibe, aber der Gatte schickte sie sogleich weg. Schließlich brachte es Herr v, Marschall doch so weit, wie er es hatte haben wollen. Seine Frau begann zu merken, daß es liehenswürdigere Herren gab als ihn. Prinz Ludwig von Württemberg machte ihr den Hof, ein junger Malßan schmachtete nach ihr, und sie erhörte diese Herren mehr der Mode wegen als aus Neigung. Da wollte nun der Gatte wieder, daß sie ihr Betragen ändere, allein es war schon zu spät, zumal da er sie sehr schlecht behandelte, und so verließ er sie dann schließlich. Da sie für Herrn v. Häseler eine wirkliche Zuneigung hat, so bin ich sicher, daß bei ihrem ausgezeichneten Charakter eine würdige und verständige Frau aus ihr wird.
1758, summer: Meine Verlobung geht vor sich. Es gibt dabei ein großes Mahl, bei dem man reichlich ißt und trinkt und sich noch mehr langweilt. Ich habe indes das Vergnügen, Frau v. Häseler, geborene Gräfin Podewils, dabei zu sehen, die sich kürzlich verheiratet hat und am Abend vor meiner Verlobung hier angekommen ist. Sie fühlt sich in der Familie ihres Gatten ebenso fremd wie ich in der meiner Braut.
1759, March 11: Meine Frau fängt an, in der Öffentlichkeit zu erscheinen. Ich stelle sie meiner Mutter vor, und wir soupieren bei Herrn v. Häseler in großer Gesellschaft. Zu meiner Freude sehe ich, daß meine Frau Beifall findet, der ihr sicherlich erhalten bleibt, sobald man sie besser kennen wird, denn sie besißt ein sehr gutes Herz und eine edle Gesinnung. Meine Mutter spielt allerdings die Stolze und pocht auf ihre 16 Ahnen, während ich es für meine Pflicht halte, auf der Seite meiner Frau zu sein, und ich werde es bei jeder Gelegenheit so halten, ohne es indes meiner Mutter gegen über an der schuldigen Achtung fehlen zu lassen.
1759, August 4: Man atmet etwas auf. Herr v. Häseler kommt an, um einige seiner Sachen in Sicherheit zu bringen, und reist am gleichen Tage wieder ab, um zu seinem Frauchen zu kommen, das in kurzem niederkommen soll.
1761, April 13: Man spricht immer noch viel vom Frieden, befürchtet aber, es werde kein allgemeiner werden, Frankreich und England werden einen Separatfrieden schließen und der Kongreß von Augsburg wird über den Frieden zwischen uns und Österreich und Rußland beschließen. Der König schickt Herrn v. Häseler zum Kongreß, aber wir befürchten noch immer einen neuen Feldzug.
1761, April 22: Man hält den Frieden zwischen England und Frankreich noch immer für gesichert, uns aber wird wohl noch eine schwere Kampagne bestimmt sein. Vorläufig werden wir Gesandte zum Kongreß schicken.,der in Augsburg statt sinden soll. Der König hat Herrn v. Häseler dazu ernannt, was diesem viele Neider macht, denn von allen Herren Gesandten, die zur Zeit von ihren Posten abberufen sind, hielt sich ein jeder im stillen für allein dazu befähigt, diese große Staatsaktion zu Ende zu führen. Häseler dagegen hatte in aller Ruhe abgewartet, was das Schicksal ihm bringen werde, und gerade er wurde ausersehen. Bei jedem Unbeteiligten findet diese Wahl auch nur Beifall, denn er ist ein wackerer, ehrenwerter Mann.
1761, May 28: Herr v. Häseler kommt aus Berlin hier an mit einem Teile seiner Bagage, die ihm nach Augsburg solgen soll. Seine Frau, die sehr liebenswürdig ist und die Gesellschaft liebt, zeigt sich hinsichtlich dieser Reise recht verständig. Sie versichert, sie wäre auch in Berlin geblieben, wenn ihr Gatte es für angebraht gehalten hätte. Die anderen Frauen dagegen vergießen Tränen und sind untröstlich darüber, daß sie nicht auch Männer haben, die sich zu diesem Posten eignen, befonders Frau v. Katt, die in Ohnmacht fällt bei dem Gedanken, daß die Häseler nach Augsburg geht, während sie den Sommer in Wust verbringen muß, Häseler bekommt vom König monatlich 1000 Taler bar und außerdem noch 2000 Taler für Haushalt und Reise. Da Herr v. Häseler von Hause aus vermögend ist und schon so alles hat, um ein großes Haus auszumachen, so wird er die großen Ausgaben, die dieses Amt mit sich bringt, besser als sehr viele andere bestreiten können. Trotz dem macht es ihm viele Neider, denn es waren mehrere Bewerber da, die es gern gehabt hätten, die einen aus Eitelkeit, andere ihrer Frauen wegen...Häfeler dagegen dahte gar nicht an seine Wahl und wurde von S. M. dem König selbst dazu ausersehen...Ich habe deshalb auch meinen lieben Häselers den Rat gegeben, nicht so wohl darauf bedacht zu sein, es den anderen gleichzutun, sondern vielmehr ihr Haus für die Gesellschaft möglichst angenehm zu machen und durch seines verbindliches Wesen sich hervorzutun, von großer Prachtentfaltung dagegen ganz abzusehen.
[Mildred note: This is why so many envoys hated their jobs!]
Other Mildred note: Poor Frau von. Katte!]
1761, July 28: Die Gesandtschaft, die nach Augsburg gehen sollte und es mit ihrer Abreise erst so eilig zu haben schien, ist noch immer hier, und es steht jetzt fest, daß sie vor dem kommenden Winter nicht abreisen wird. Der arme Häseler muß mittlerweile aus seiner Tasche 5400 Gulden für sein Haus in Augsburg bezahlen und über 600 Taler monatlich für seine Dienerschaft.
[Mildred note: See what I mean about envoy expenses? Maybe FW was more popular with certain envoys because you didn't have to invest huge outlays of money into your job at his court?]
1761, December: Frau v. Häseler, geborene Gräfin Podewils, kommt mit einem Sohne nieder. Das Kind wird am zweiten Feiertag getauft. Prinz Ferdinand hält es über die Taufe, und Herr v. Häseler bringt dabei seine schöne Uniform und seine ganze fur den Augsburger Kongreß bestimmte Dienerschaf, die aus 25 Köpfen besteht, zur Geltung, indem alle beim Servieren des Imbisses, der nah der Taufe gereiht wird, mithelfen.
Lehndorff also mentions a Moltke in passing in volume 3, just saying that he sees the king of Denmark enter Amsterdam in 1768, and that the king is accompanied by [list of names, including Moltke (spelled "Molck")]. Schmidt lists Moltke as "Friedrich, Danish Oberhofmarschall" in the index. That would be Christian Frederik Moltke, the oldest son who was born in 1736 and thus named after the king and crown prince.
Re: Fritz is not your dream boss: The Bad Pyrmont edition
Ahh, the last bit has revealed to me the mistake I made, to wit, I had forgotten that Lehndorff was in the Netherlands twice during the same journey, to wit, first there, then in France, then back to Belgium and the Netherlands where he meets up with Heinrich. All the Christian stuff - and here is actually a lot, he did see much more than the entrance of him - is in the first third of Lehndorff‘s 1768 journey. (Also, Schmidt-L. Files this under Denmark, King Christian of, which is why I couldn‘t find it under C for Christian.) Lehndorff finds him very handsome and amiable and relaxed in his encounters, was invited to a special trip to Leyden at the King‘s side and swears he had an invite to travel on with the young King for the rest of Christian‘s journey but no, duty calls. Now, BEFORE he meets him, after the news of Frederik V‘s death arrives in Berlin, Lehndorff actually notes that the young king is supposed to be very childish for his age and without self restraint, so there were rumors already. But once he meets him, he thinks the guy is adorable. Was Lehndorff dazzled by a crown? Was Christian in a better mental condition away from Denmark? (No mention of Struensee, btw, there is a favourite Lehndorff mentions disapprovingly, but by the name of Holck or something like that.)
Re: Fritz is not your dream boss: The Bad Pyrmont edition
Also, Schmidt-L. Files this under Denmark, King Christian of, which is why I couldn‘t find it under C for Christian.
Aha! I looked hard under C, couldn't find it, and would have checked "Denmark" next, only after an hour or more of cleaning up the OCR text, I needed a break and figured if I posted, you would take it from there. We make a good team. :D
Lehndorff finds him very handsome and amiable and relaxed in his encounters, was invited to a special trip to Leyden at the King‘s side and swears he had an invite to travel on with the young King for the rest of Christian‘s journey but no, duty calls.
I have a feeling that much like rereading Wilhelmine's memoirs after a couple years of salon paid off, rereading Lehndorff would pay off.
Now, BEFORE he meets him, after the news of Frederik V‘s death arrives in Berlin, Lehndorff actually notes that the young king is supposed to be very childish for his age and without self restraint, so there were rumors already.
Yeah, I think there were rumors already even when he married CM, but the people trying to marry her off to him were like, "No, everything's fine, just a normal eccentric monarch!"
Hmm, does this sound familiar? Danish Wikipedia:
On 14 January 1766, King Frederik V died, and Christian took over the throne as Christian VII. He was then 17 years old, and even for kings in the 18th century it was not common to marry so early. However, it was the top leadership in the state apparatus, with JHE Bernstorff as the leader, who pushed for the marriage to be speeded up. The reason was that Christian had what those around him regarded as an uncontrollable sexuality, and it was believed that it could be dampened by allowing it to have an outlet in a more appropriate direction.
Because it worked so well the TWO times a minister tried that with his father? Did these guys just really not have any other idea for how to manage an unmanageable monarch? Or maybe they'd heard about Philip V "the Frog" of Spain? (His wives didn't fix his mental illness, but he and the rest of the country were sure as hell better off for the emotional labor his wives were doing.)
Was Lehndorff dazzled by a crown? Was Christian in a better mental condition away from Denmark?
Maybe, but he was extremely erratic in general, and if I'm remembering correctly, he did often make a good first impression (not always), but it didn't last. Good thing duty called, Lehndorff!
Re: Fritz is not your dream boss: The Bad Pyrmont edition
Because it worked so well the TWO times a minister tried that with his father? Did these guys just really not have any other idea for how to manage an unmanageable monarch?
To be fair, it's not just them. As I recall, a lot of courtiers through the centuries were firm believers in the "better wed than burn" saying of St. Paul's and thought this was just the ticket to deal with their prince/monarch.
Reinhold Koser: And then there's me and Gustav Volz, both writing of how Fritz hoped that marriage would tame "the wild spirit of his brothers". Our plural is ever so discreet, isn't it?
AW, whose marriage had already been arranged when FW died, and who was Mr. Chill Family Mediator at this point: Wild...?
Ferdinand, only FW kid to be allowed to marry for love (his niece): ...Spirit?
Fritz to Wilhelmine (because one can't repeat this canon quote often enough for the sheer stunningness): The 20th of the coming month will be the wedding of Monseigneur Henri. I'm not in his confidence regarding his love or his indifference, but I believe that, in all respects, women will do him good.
Good thing duty called, Lehndorff!
No kidding. Lehndorff would have been rapidly disillusioned. But it does add some texture to his repeated protests in 1772 that Christian did not appear mad to him, and his readiness to believe the worst of poor CM and Struensee.
Incidentally, shame Andrew Mitchell had died the previous year (1771), because going by his sceptical reaction when stories about Peter III. having been the worst to justify the coup started to arrive, he might have shown similar scepticism about the "Juliana and the other nobles saved Christian and Denmark from evil Struensee and Messalina!CM" version, and he was one of the people Lehndorff listened to with great respect.
All this said, of course it's a consistent Lehndorff trait to idealize and prettify people he likes and only later talk about their flaws. Case in point: FW2. As long as FW2 is still Prince of Prussia, he's a darling who is consistently nice and lovely and has no flaws. In retrospect, in that one Lehndorff diary that survives from the reign of FW2's son's reign, FW3, he describes the now dead FW2 as a nice but weak man who could easily be swayed by others. In between lie the years where Lehndorff like Heinrich appears to have hoped for a job and found out no, he's seen as a nice has been only suited for social company at best. And when the people Lehndorff liked died tragically, like AW, we never really get to the talking-about-their-flaws stage. I mean, the most critical thing he ever says about AW is that he wasn't a good husband to Luise, and screwed around a lot, but that's pretty much it.
Re: Fritz is not your dream boss: The Bad Pyrmont edition
But it does add some texture to his repeated protests in 1772 that Christian did not appear mad to him, and his readiness to believe the worst of poor CM and Struensee.
Yeah, at one point after Christian's become so erratic that Struensee has withdrawn him to a country house, the people get really upset that they never get to see their monarch. A bunch of them finally stage a march out there and demand to see the king, to assure themselves that he's still alive and not being poisoned. It is eerily like the Womens' March on Versailles, culminating in Marie Antoinette and Louis getting moved to Paris. I got goosebumps, thinking I knew how this was going to end, namely in Struensee's fall.
But insted, they came in the palace, met Christian, and went, "...Huh, he seems really normal and somewhat charming. In short, not at all what we expected based on all the rumors. Okay, guess you can't believe everything you hear." The situation was defused...for now.
Anyway, I think that's the context for Lehndorff having a positive first impression of Christian. Honestly, even if I think of some of the most similar members of my family, my grandmother and my sister, you have to actually know them for a while before you start seeing the weird behaviors.
Incidentally, shame Andrew Mitchell had died the previous year (1771), because going by his sceptical reaction when stories about Peter III. having been the worst to justify the coup started to arrive, he might have shown similar scepticism about the "Juliana and the other nobles saved Christian and Denmark from evil Struensee and Messalina!CM" version, and he was one of the people Lehndorff listened to with great respect.
Ooh, I had forgotten that. Yes, that would have been interesting!
Re: Fritz is not your dream boss: The Bad Pyrmont edition
Fritz to Wilhelmine (because one can't repeat this canon quote often enough for the sheer stunningness): The 20th of the coming month will be the wedding of Monseigneur Henri. I'm not in his confidence regarding his love or his indifference, but I believe that, in all respects, women will do him good.
MAN we were just talking about Philippe marrying women against his inclinations... FRIIIIIITZ!
Re: Fritz is not your dream boss: The Bad Pyrmont edition
Stratemann: I protest! I was very glad to be envoy and further the cause of happy Hohenzollern/Braunschweig marriages and report about what a wonderful King and Father FW was!
Hee!
Seckendorff: Count yourself lucky.
Heh. Sorry Seckendorff!
Poniatowski: Oh wonderful glorious time in St. Peterburg with the woman who was MY DESTINY! Her husband, though....
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Re: Fritz is not your dream boss: The Bad Pyrmont edition
22. Juli 1756: Häseler returns from Denmark, where he's our court's envoy. I used to be good friends with him, and I very much enjoy seeing him again. He is a very decent fellow, only he shows off being an envoy a little too much right now.
12. September (same year, the 7 years war has started): I'm returning form Potsdam and dine at Count Podewils', where I meet Häseler, who has to return immediately to his post as envoy in Copenhagen. We get a pretty sad impression of this country from him; he'd love very much to stay here. It's rumored he wants to marry little Marschall, and this seems to be true. (The rest of the entry, btw, is about meeting Präsident Voß and his wife, the former Sophie von Pannewitz, who in Lehndorff's opinion is still into AW, which doesn't surprise AW fan Lehndorff one bit.)
(I checked the year 1756 in Volume 2 for any additional bits, but at least in that particular year there doesn't seem to have been anything cut about August von Häseler.)
Very few envoys seem happy to be envoys!
Stratemann: I protest! I was very glad to be envoy and further the cause of happy Hohenzollern/Braunschweig marriages and report about what a wonderful King and Father FW was!
Manteuffel: Well, things in Denmark got a bit expensive back when I was a young envoy, and I did sweat a lot about having to pawn things until I finally got some of my salary, but being envoy in Berlin was fun, true. Having to put up with being invited to the Tobacco Parliament notwithstanding. I did luck out in getting promoted home to Saxony and to minister rank just in time to see the bonkers Clement affair go down from a safe distance, I'll admit.
Seckendorff: Count yourself lucky. Having to attend the Tobacco College was the least of it. I got a front row seat to the full Hohenzollern family insanity, and okay, I succeeded in what I was supposed to, prevent the English marriages, get Junior married to the niece of the Empress, but when I think of all that bribery money I had to spend and my future held not one but two stints in prison for me me, one for losing battles and one because Junior can hold a grudge, well, I should have remained a general.
Hoym: I loved my assignment in Paris. I loved being promoted to ministerdom back home in Dresden even more, of course, and winning over Manteuffel, and I did not love at all being toppled and locked up at Königstein, but speaking strictly of my days as an envoy: *throws kiss at Versailles*
Poniatowski: Oh wonderful glorious time in St. Peterburg with the woman who was MY DESTINY! Her husband, though....
Sir William Hamilton: Well, King Ferdinand was somewhat...immature... but luckily I had my antiquities and my research into volcanology, and then of course my Emma, who got along with the Queen so splendidly, so I would say that by and large, I enjoyed my time as his Majesty's envoy in Naples, yes.
Hoym:
Re: Fritz is not your dream boss: The Bad Pyrmont edition
Stratemann, you were the very first exception to come to my mind! When I said "very few envoys," rest easy you were one of the chosen few.
(the easiest to check, due to having a register)
Volumes 2 and 3 also have a register, it's at the end of volume 3 (and you have to keep in mind the supplementary volumes were numbered separately, so "I" is what we call volume 2 and "II" is what we call volume 3).
Interestingly, Schmidt's index says "Johann August Haeseler" was born in 1724. That would explain why Fritz referred to him being in his prime, but given Fritz's opposition to very young envoys mentioned by Hartmann, would not explain how he's envoy already in 1751. Oh, interesting, Wikipedia confirms that the son was also envoy to Copenhagen. Okay, maybe it's because Fritz had such a bad experience (in his opinion) with this envoy that he formed the opinion that young envoys are bad.
All right, I retract what I said about Fritz giving a 60-year-old a hard time, but I still remind you that this guy is 31 in 1755, whereas Fritz was 32 during the 1744 trip to Bad Pyrmont.
Okay, so the envoy who can't get leave from Fritz is the first cousin of Lehndorff's wife, not the uncle. Apologies for misreporting at first, but it's not my fault if the father and son had the same job description, Wikipedia didn't give dates for their envoy tenures, and the father was still alive when the son was in Copenhagen! Sheesh.
Anyway, he gets a *lot* of mentions in volume 2. Given that this all had to be copy-pasted from OCRed text and then cleaned up, 1) there are a lot of lingering mistakes, I'm sure, 2) I'm not translating it all right now. I may later if I have time.
1758, Feb 7: Häseler ist bei Schellendorf. Er hat die obere Wohnung genommen, die der schwedische Gesandte, Herr v. Wulfenstjerna, bewohnte. Seine Heirat mit Frau v. Marschall wird aus Familien rücksichten, die gewöhnlich unsern lebhaftesten und billigsten Wünschen Hindernisse bereiten, aufgeschoben werden.
1758, summer: In dieser Zeit wird die Hochzeit der jüngsten Tochter des Grafen Podewils mit Herrn v. Häseler gefeiert. Sie war in erster Ehe mit einem Herrn v. Marschall verheiratet gewesen, der sie ein Jahr nach der Hochzeit ohne weiteres verließ, um nach Rom zu gehen, weil, wie er sagte, sein undankbares Vaterland seinem großen Verdienste keine Gerechtigkeit widerfahren lasse. Er war ein Narr, dem Lamettrie, Voltaire, des Ormes und mehrere andere Franzosen den Kopf verdreht hatten. Graf Podewils ließ die Ehe seiner Tochter alsbald scheiden, und diese wohnte bisher im Hause ihres Vaters im Genusse einer Rente von 100() Talern, die Marschalls Mutter ihr bezahlen mußte. Ihr erster Gatte hatte diese junge Person zu allerlei leichtfertigen Streichen verleitet und wollte durchaus eine Zierpuppe aus ihr machen. Das erste Geschenk, das er ihr machte, war eine Büchse mit roter Schminke, und am zweiten Tage nach der Hochzeit wollte er mit ihr nicht mehr im selben Wagen fahren, indem er erklärte, der gute Ton verlange es, daß die Frau immer von ihrem Manne getrennt sei. Der Vater hatte es bei der großen Jugend der jungen Frau für gut befunden, ihr ihre Gouvernante mitzugeben, damit sie als Freundin im Hause bleibe, aber der Gatte schickte sie sogleich weg. Schließlich brachte es Herr v, Marschall doch so weit, wie er es hatte haben wollen. Seine Frau begann zu merken, daß es liehenswürdigere Herren gab als ihn. Prinz Ludwig von Württemberg machte ihr den Hof, ein junger Malßan schmachtete nach ihr, und sie erhörte diese Herren mehr der Mode wegen als aus Neigung. Da wollte nun der Gatte wieder, daß sie ihr Betragen ändere, allein es war schon zu spät, zumal da er sie sehr schlecht behandelte, und so verließ er sie dann schließlich. Da sie für Herrn v. Häseler eine wirkliche Zuneigung hat, so bin ich sicher, daß bei ihrem ausgezeichneten Charakter eine würdige und verständige Frau aus ihr wird.
1758, summer: Meine Verlobung geht vor sich. Es gibt dabei ein großes Mahl, bei dem man reichlich ißt und trinkt und sich noch mehr langweilt. Ich habe indes das Vergnügen, Frau v. Häseler, geborene Gräfin Podewils, dabei zu sehen, die sich kürzlich verheiratet hat und am Abend vor meiner Verlobung hier angekommen ist. Sie fühlt sich in der Familie ihres Gatten ebenso fremd wie ich in der meiner Braut.
1759, March 11: Meine Frau fängt an, in der Öffentlichkeit zu erscheinen. Ich stelle sie meiner Mutter vor, und wir soupieren bei Herrn v. Häseler in großer Gesellschaft. Zu meiner Freude sehe ich, daß meine Frau Beifall findet, der ihr sicherlich erhalten bleibt, sobald man sie besser kennen wird, denn sie besißt ein sehr gutes Herz und eine edle Gesinnung. Meine Mutter spielt allerdings die Stolze und pocht auf ihre 16 Ahnen, während ich es für meine Pflicht halte, auf der Seite meiner Frau zu sein, und ich werde es bei jeder Gelegenheit so halten, ohne es indes meiner Mutter gegen über an der schuldigen Achtung fehlen zu lassen.
1759, August 4: Man atmet etwas auf. Herr v. Häseler kommt an, um einige seiner Sachen in Sicherheit zu bringen, und reist am gleichen Tage wieder ab, um zu seinem Frauchen zu kommen, das in kurzem niederkommen soll.
1761, April 13: Man spricht immer noch viel vom Frieden, befürchtet aber, es werde kein allgemeiner werden, Frankreich und England werden einen Separatfrieden schließen und der Kongreß von Augsburg wird über den Frieden zwischen uns und Österreich und Rußland beschließen. Der König schickt Herrn v. Häseler zum Kongreß, aber wir befürchten noch immer einen neuen Feldzug.
1761, April 22: Man hält den Frieden zwischen England und Frankreich noch immer für gesichert, uns aber wird wohl noch eine schwere Kampagne bestimmt sein. Vorläufig werden wir Gesandte zum Kongreß schicken.,der in Augsburg statt sinden soll. Der König hat Herrn v. Häseler dazu ernannt, was diesem viele Neider macht, denn von allen Herren Gesandten, die zur Zeit von ihren Posten abberufen sind, hielt sich ein jeder im stillen für allein dazu befähigt, diese große Staatsaktion zu Ende zu führen. Häseler dagegen hatte in aller Ruhe abgewartet, was das Schicksal ihm bringen werde, und gerade er wurde ausersehen. Bei jedem Unbeteiligten findet diese Wahl auch nur Beifall, denn er ist ein wackerer, ehrenwerter Mann.
1761, May 28: Herr v. Häseler kommt aus Berlin hier an mit einem Teile seiner Bagage, die ihm nach Augsburg solgen soll. Seine Frau, die sehr liebenswürdig ist und die Gesellschaft liebt, zeigt sich hinsichtlich dieser Reise recht verständig. Sie versichert, sie wäre auch in Berlin geblieben, wenn ihr Gatte es für angebraht gehalten hätte. Die anderen Frauen dagegen vergießen Tränen und sind untröstlich darüber, daß sie nicht auch Männer haben, die sich zu diesem Posten eignen, befonders Frau v. Katt, die in Ohnmacht fällt bei dem Gedanken, daß die Häseler nach Augsburg geht, während sie den Sommer in Wust verbringen muß, Häseler bekommt vom König monatlich 1000 Taler bar und außerdem noch 2000 Taler für Haushalt und Reise. Da Herr v. Häseler von Hause aus vermögend ist und schon so alles hat, um ein großes Haus auszumachen, so wird er die großen Ausgaben, die dieses Amt mit sich bringt, besser als sehr viele andere bestreiten können. Trotz dem macht es ihm viele Neider, denn es waren mehrere Bewerber da, die es gern gehabt hätten, die einen aus Eitelkeit, andere ihrer Frauen wegen...Häfeler dagegen dahte gar nicht an seine Wahl und wurde von S. M. dem König selbst dazu ausersehen...Ich habe deshalb auch meinen lieben Häselers den Rat gegeben, nicht so wohl darauf bedacht zu sein, es den anderen gleichzutun, sondern vielmehr ihr Haus für die Gesellschaft möglichst angenehm zu machen und durch seines verbindliches Wesen sich hervorzutun, von großer Prachtentfaltung dagegen ganz abzusehen.
[Mildred note: This is why so many envoys hated their jobs!]
Other Mildred note: Poor Frau von. Katte!]
1761, July 28: Die Gesandtschaft, die nach Augsburg gehen sollte und es mit ihrer Abreise erst so eilig zu haben schien, ist noch immer hier, und es steht jetzt fest, daß sie vor dem kommenden Winter nicht abreisen wird. Der arme Häseler muß mittlerweile aus seiner Tasche 5400 Gulden für sein Haus in Augsburg bezahlen und über 600 Taler monatlich für seine Dienerschaft.
[Mildred note: See what I mean about envoy expenses? Maybe FW was more popular with certain envoys because you didn't have to invest huge outlays of money into your job at his court?]
1761, December: Frau v. Häseler, geborene Gräfin Podewils, kommt mit einem Sohne nieder. Das Kind wird am zweiten Feiertag getauft. Prinz Ferdinand hält es über die Taufe, und Herr v. Häseler bringt dabei seine schöne Uniform und seine ganze fur den Augsburger Kongreß bestimmte Dienerschaf, die aus 25 Köpfen besteht, zur Geltung, indem alle beim Servieren des Imbisses, der nah der Taufe gereiht wird, mithelfen.
Lehndorff also mentions a Moltke in passing in volume 3, just saying that he sees the king of Denmark enter Amsterdam in 1768, and that the king is accompanied by [list of names, including Moltke (spelled "Molck")]. Schmidt lists Moltke as "Friedrich, Danish Oberhofmarschall" in the index. That would be Christian Frederik Moltke, the oldest son who was born in 1736 and thus named after the king and crown prince.
Re: Fritz is not your dream boss: The Bad Pyrmont edition
Re: Fritz is not your dream boss: The Bad Pyrmont edition
Aha! I looked hard under C, couldn't find it, and would have checked "Denmark" next, only after an hour or more of cleaning up the OCR text, I needed a break and figured if I posted, you would take it from there. We make a good team. :D
Lehndorff finds him very handsome and amiable and relaxed in his encounters, was invited to a special trip to Leyden at the King‘s side and swears he had an invite to travel on with the young King for the rest of Christian‘s journey but no, duty calls.
I have a feeling that much like rereading Wilhelmine's memoirs after a couple years of salon paid off, rereading Lehndorff would pay off.
Now, BEFORE he meets him, after the news of Frederik V‘s death arrives in Berlin, Lehndorff actually notes that the young king is supposed to be very childish for his age and without self restraint, so there were rumors already.
Yeah, I think there were rumors already even when he married CM, but the people trying to marry her off to him were like, "No, everything's fine, just a normal eccentric monarch!"
Hmm, does this sound familiar? Danish Wikipedia:
On 14 January 1766, King Frederik V died, and Christian took over the throne as Christian VII. He was then 17 years old, and even for kings in the 18th century it was not common to marry so early. However, it was the top leadership in the state apparatus, with JHE Bernstorff as the leader, who pushed for the marriage to be speeded up. The reason was that Christian had what those around him regarded as an uncontrollable sexuality, and it was believed that it could be dampened by allowing it to have an outlet in a more appropriate direction.
Because it worked so well the TWO times a minister tried that with his father? Did these guys just really not have any other idea for how to manage an unmanageable monarch? Or maybe they'd heard about Philip V "the Frog" of Spain? (His wives didn't fix his mental illness, but he and the rest of the country were sure as hell better off for the emotional labor his wives were doing.)
Was Lehndorff dazzled by a crown? Was Christian in a better mental condition away from Denmark?
Maybe, but he was extremely erratic in general, and if I'm remembering correctly, he did often make a good first impression (not always), but it didn't last. Good thing duty called, Lehndorff!
Re: Fritz is not your dream boss: The Bad Pyrmont edition
To be fair, it's not just them. As I recall, a lot of courtiers through the centuries were firm believers in the "better wed than burn" saying of St. Paul's and thought this was just the ticket to deal with their prince/monarch.
Reinhold Koser: And then there's me and Gustav Volz, both writing of how Fritz hoped that marriage would tame "the wild spirit of his brothers". Our plural is ever so discreet, isn't it?
AW, whose marriage had already been arranged when FW died, and who was Mr. Chill Family Mediator at this point: Wild...?
Ferdinand, only FW kid to be allowed to marry for love (his niece): ...Spirit?
Fritz to Wilhelmine (because one can't repeat this canon quote often enough for the sheer stunningness): The 20th of the coming month will be the wedding of Monseigneur Henri. I'm not in his confidence regarding his love or his indifference, but I believe that, in all respects, women will do him good.
Good thing duty called, Lehndorff!
No kidding. Lehndorff would have been rapidly disillusioned. But it does add some texture to his repeated protests in 1772 that Christian did not appear mad to him, and his readiness to believe the worst of poor CM and Struensee.
Incidentally, shame Andrew Mitchell had died the previous year (1771), because going by his sceptical reaction when stories about Peter III. having been the worst to justify the coup started to arrive, he might have shown similar scepticism about the "Juliana and the other nobles saved Christian and Denmark from evil Struensee and Messalina!CM" version, and he was one of the people Lehndorff listened to with great respect.
All this said, of course it's a consistent Lehndorff trait to idealize and prettify people he likes and only later talk about their flaws. Case in point: FW2. As long as FW2 is still Prince of Prussia, he's a darling who is consistently nice and lovely and has no flaws. In retrospect, in that one Lehndorff diary that survives from the reign of FW2's son's reign, FW3, he describes the now dead FW2 as a nice but weak man who could easily be swayed by others. In between lie the years where Lehndorff like Heinrich appears to have hoped for a job and found out no, he's seen as a nice has been only suited for social company at best. And when the people Lehndorff liked died tragically, like AW, we never really get to the talking-about-their-flaws stage. I mean, the most critical thing he ever says about AW is that he wasn't a good husband to Luise, and screwed around a lot, but that's pretty much it.
Re: Fritz is not your dream boss: The Bad Pyrmont edition
Yeah, at one point after Christian's become so erratic that Struensee has withdrawn him to a country house, the people get really upset that they never get to see their monarch. A bunch of them finally stage a march out there and demand to see the king, to assure themselves that he's still alive and not being poisoned. It is eerily like the Womens' March on Versailles, culminating in Marie Antoinette and Louis getting moved to Paris. I got goosebumps, thinking I knew how this was going to end, namely in Struensee's fall.
But insted, they came in the palace, met Christian, and went, "...Huh, he seems really normal and somewhat charming. In short, not at all what we expected based on all the rumors. Okay, guess you can't believe everything you hear." The situation was defused...for now.
Anyway, I think that's the context for Lehndorff having a positive first impression of Christian. Honestly, even if I think of some of the most similar members of my family, my grandmother and my sister, you have to actually know them for a while before you start seeing the weird behaviors.
Incidentally, shame Andrew Mitchell had died the previous year (1771), because going by his sceptical reaction when stories about Peter III. having been the worst to justify the coup started to arrive, he might have shown similar scepticism about the "Juliana and the other nobles saved Christian and Denmark from evil Struensee and Messalina!CM" version, and he was one of the people Lehndorff listened to with great respect.
Ooh, I had forgotten that. Yes, that would have been interesting!
Re: Fritz is not your dream boss: The Bad Pyrmont edition
MAN we were just talking about Philippe marrying women against his inclinations... FRIIIIIITZ!
Re: Fritz is not your dream boss: The Bad Pyrmont edition
Re: Fritz is not your dream boss: The Bad Pyrmont edition
Re: Fritz is not your dream boss: The Bad Pyrmont edition
Re: Fritz is not your dream boss: The Bad Pyrmont edition
Hee!
Seckendorff: Count yourself lucky.
Heh. Sorry Seckendorff!
Poniatowski: Oh wonderful glorious time in St. Peterburg with the woman who was MY DESTINY! Her husband, though....
LOLOLOLOL! Oh Poniatowski <3